In 2025 Russia launched five times more drones against Ukraine than in previous year

Airpower, Ukraine

By Stavros Atlamazoglou

January 20, 2026

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The Russian military continues to rely on one-way attack unmanned aerial systems to wage its offensive war in Ukraine.

In 2025 alone, the Russian forces launched approximately 55,000 suicide drones against Ukrainian military units, urban centers, and critical infrastructure around the country.

Last year, the Russian forces relied extensively on suicide drones for offensive, defensive, and long-range fires operations in Ukraine. Indeed, Russian forces launched around five times more loitering munitions in 2025 than in the previous year.

In December alone, the Russian forces launched approximately 5,100 suicide drones, according to an intelligence assessment by the British Ministry of Defence; in November, it fired over 5,400.

This nearly five-fold increase over 2024 suggests an expansion of Russia’s suicide drone production capabilities, as well as a gradual change in the Russian doctrine.

However, that shift does not mean that Russian troops are any less safe from the bloodthirsty tendencies of their commanders. Western intelligence estimates put the number of Russian casualties in 2025 at nearly 415,000 killed and wounded. And NATO is currently assessing that the Russian forces are losing as many as 25,000 men killed every month.

As every winter since the war began, the Russian military is launching ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and suicide drones against Ukraine’s cities and critical infrastructure. The Kremlin’s goal is simple: deny basic goods, including heat and internet, to the Ukrainian population, thereby maximizing pressure on Kyiv to capitulate.

“Russia’s air strike campaign is focused against Ukraine’s energy critical national infrastructure, significantly increasing hardship for Ukraine’s civilian population over the winter months,” the British Ministry of Defence assessed.

Indeed, the situation is so grave for the Ukrainians that last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared a nationwide energy state of emergency.

Nevertheless, the Ukrainians have proven to be resilient and it is unlikely that attacks on the country’s energy sector alone will force Kyiv to capitulate.

Additionally, dhe Ukrainian military is pulling out all stops to counter the Russian drone threat. Ukrainian units are using advanced air defense systems, such as the MIM-104 Patriot, IRIS-T, and NASAMS; standard but effective machine guns and autocannons; and even AGM-114 Hellfire missiles mounted on highly mobile tactical vehicles to counter drones.

As the war nears its four-year anniversary on February 22, it is becoming increasingly clear that the Russian military is adapting to the conflict’s idiosyncrasies to maximize its effectiveness on the ground. Drones, and particularly one-way attack unmanned aerial systems, are here to stay.

Feature Image: A Russian soldier with the Dnepr Grouping of Forces holds an Foxeer FPV-drone, July 2024. (Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation)